This invention relates to portable tables, and in particular to a cooler-wagon with wheels and a lid-top for the cooler portion that doubles as a table top, along with benches and legs on both sides of the cooler wagon that fold up against the cooler-wagon when not being used.
Taking children on picnics has generally required one to bring a cooler and potentially a blanket, chair and the like, in order to be able to have a place to sit. Rectangular cooler boxes for temporary storing foods and beverages have been widely used for beach outings, picnics, nature walks, and other activities. The larger the cooler the more difficult and cumbersome it is to transport the cooler. Wheeled coolers have been proposed for making large coolers more mobile. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,708 to Derry; U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,157 to Ciminelli et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,195 to Peters; U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,985 to Devan et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,996 to Wisz; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,852 to Sistrunk et al. However, these patents do not allow users especially children a place to sit off the ground.
Children""s wagons and strollers have been widely used over the years to transport children. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,426 to McConnell. However, the inventor is not aware of any child""s wagon, and stroller device that would allow for the insulated storage of food necessary for an outing. Additionally, traditional wagons and strollers have a limited seating capability that generally does not allow for more than two seated occupants.
Large picnic tables with large benches have been become widely used. Some of these large picnic tables include wheels. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,936 to Nicolli. However, these traditional picnic tables are to large, cumbersome and expensive to be used for taking children on simple outings, such as a picnic, beach trip, and nature walk. Additionally, there is no place on the table for storing foods and beverages.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,403 to O""Neill et al. describes a xe2x80x9cmultipurpose beach cartxe2x80x9d, that is used as a two wheeled handcart. However, this patent also does not overcome the problems with the other prior art devices described above.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide a traveling picnic table having wheels and a pull arm for allowing the table to be mobile.
The second object of this invention is to provide a traveling picnic table having seats that can be lowered down when the table is used and are folded up when the table is being moved.
The third object of this invention is to provide a traveling picnic table having a cooler compartment with a lid that can also be used as a tabletop.
A preferred embodiment of the traveling picnic table includes a cooler having a tabletop, seats attached to opposing sides of the cooler, each with legs having a folded position adjacent to the cooler and the legs having a down position with the seat perpendicular to the cooler, along with wheels attached to the cooler. The table top is attached to the cooler by hinges. A locking hinge assembly can lock the tabletop in an open position. Each seat can have two sets of legs, each set can include legs that have a raised folded up position adjacent to the folded seat, and a down position perpendicular to the down positioned seat. Rods can be inserted into channels located on each pair of legs for locking the legs in the down position. The table can further include a handle for attaching to a front portion of the cooler for allowing the table to be pulled.
A front set of wheels pivotally can be attached beneath the cooler, the handle being connected to the front wheels, along with a rear set of wheels attached beneath the cooler.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.